Need Help I think

[Flash]

Hey Guys, O.K. Haze went to #2 on NWR in just 11 days. I kinda started the song from scatch this time. I redid the drums which are sep. into sep. parts and can all be changed. I.E. bass drum snare ect. ect. I'm really looking for help in the mix of the song. I know the song went #2 in 11 days but I never got to many reply's on what to change or ect. ect. I think this song has potential. Please help here, I really need to learn how to mix better. All setting on the EQ are straight across the board, if you want more info let me know. No compression added or nothin' on anything.
O.K. then WWW.nowhereradio.com/flash/singles
Thanks.....

[King Elvis]

The 70's are BACK baby!!!
This IS Rock and Roll!!!
I need more bottom end and the 2 axes need to be balanced out more. The rhythm guitar is a little too loud and the lead is too low. Just needs to be balanced out a little bit, possibly a little compression on the mix to even it out!!

You keep on shoutin', you keep on shoutin...
The King

[jjtcorsair]

I'm confused... which song should I be listening to?
I'm listening to "Ride". It's a cool tune but I don't want to comment too much if it's not the song you want us to listen to.

Jon

[Kramer]

This song rocks ass like it always did man.I think it would sound better if the rhythm guitar in the right speaker was brought to the center or at least double it so it's in both sides to give it a little bit more of a stereo image....and bring the lead guitar to the center with the vocals or just a hair off to the left of center and maybe a short reverb to give it it's own space......I know you're lookin for that dry in your face raw ass rock guitar but I think a little bit of reverb(not even anoticable amount really) would help it out after you pull it closer to center.

The vocals need just a touch of highs to give them more presence....the doubling of the vocals gives them a middy sound that leaves them standing kind of muddy.......thats why they need a little bit of High eq IMHO.....play around with these ideas a little bit and see what happens.......if it sounds like shit forget I said anything!

p.s. are you the flash that signed my review thing over at nowhere?

[theron]

Dude!! That beat ROCKS! It grabbed me from the get go. I like the vocal melody that was born out of it as well.

Tight and straight forward pulse....

I read Kramers comments after listening and he's got some good thoughts. I'd be real tempted to double the git on the right and throw one on the left or cut another rhythm git to balance it out. Give that lead/fill git a break on trying to uphold the balance on the song. Then you can toss it to center stage when it is ripping all alone (i.e. around 2:04 ish) and let the rhythm chunck away throughout.......

This could very well be just me but, I thought the vocals sounded dampened. I could hear the words ok and the level was about right (I'd go a little louder but, it sounded like you were singing with a blanket between you and the mic. Could be the mic, could be the vocal effect, could be the mp3 convertion, could be me or...it could be that damn blanket

Anyway, nice rock tune. I dug the song. Kick ass beat and vocal delivery!!!

PS. #2 on NWR!! WTF does that really mean

Peace,

Theron.

[Kramer]

double posted..damn the bbs demons!

[Kramer]

Originally posted by theron
This could very well be just me but, I thought the vocals sounded dampened. I could hear the words ok and the level was about right (I'd go a little louder but, it sounded like you were singing with a blanket between you and the mic. Could be the mic, could be the vocal effect, could be the mp3 convertion, could be me or...it could be that damn blanket

You described exactly what I was trying to about the vocals needing some high end presence!.....it's not just you,it does sound like a blanket thrown between the singer and the mic.....I have the same problem with my vocals and it's caused by doubling the vocal......a little high end sparkle usually cures it.

[B.SABBATH]

yes I like this tune but I hate the drums.. you got some good tips already.. I would add that the high hat could be lowered a bit.. doubled guitars or centered a bit more..

real rock.

[Flash]

Hey guys, thanks to all of you. King elvis I give it a try. Jon, haze is the song. Kramer, I use the same name on NWR, I hope I gave you a good review! Theron, I'll try a couple things to get that better. B. Sabbath, I think I'm getting the picture. I Hope anway. I like to get back to the post more often than I did this one but we changed provides at work and ran into problems. Haven't had access for 2 days there so I have to wait till I get home. Thanks again.

[Kramer]

Originally posted by Flash
Kramer, I use the same name on NWR, I hope I gave you a good review!

LOL.It was a good review.You mentioned that the vocals were too much in your face ,which they are..Ive got a lot of stuff going on right now but I need to re-mix those songs if Im gonna keep them posted over there.

New stuff is on the way too.Thanks for the kind words on the review.

[Flash]

Hey Kramer, Cool, I'll have to go back and listen again. O.K. let me get back the post. I redid some things with the guitar tracks to center them more. I took a little off the high hat. now I'm ready to change the vocals with some EQ. I'm using sonar 1.31 when I go to EQ I have 32Hz 64 HZ 130HZ 260 Hz 500 Hz 1K 2K 4K 8.3K and 16.5K What would you guys suggest doing? Also, I now have the vocals on (2) tracks instead of 5. Cut and Paste works well and I just realixed one track of vocals sucked. Didn't need it at all.

[JuSumPilgrim]

Nice depth. Nice levels. The tamborine and cymbals were a little bright but not horrible.

This song needs live drums badly. Keyboard drums, even when played by hand just aint the same. The toms jump out of the mix just about everytime theyre played.

As was said above the vocals need air, presence and a little verb badly.

Good energy.

[Flash]

O.K. I'm just not sure what you mean by air and presents, I understand the verb part. How do I add sparkle to it with the EQ. as mentioned above?

[Flash]

Sorry for the double post, I couldn't wait no longer. O.K. I change the things I think you wanted me to change. Could ya let me know? http://www.nowhereradio.com/flash/singles
The song is hazed

[Kramer]

The drums have a helluva a spread to them now,(thats a good thing)but the guitars are sounding mono....Looks like the only alternative to your original mix is to record another rhythm guitar to match the existing one and then pan one hard left and the other hard right to give the guitars some stereo image.The lead guitar will probably work where it's placed right now if you do this.Right now the vocals,rhytym and lead guitar are fighting for some of the same space.

The vocal dullness is still there and needs a boost at the high end of the frequency spectrum.I would try some subtle boost between 6-15 kHz...just play with those frequencies on the vocals.It will add some presence and sharpness to get those vocals out of that dull place they're in right now.be careful and add just what you need though......sibilance will start to rear it's ugly head if you boost those highs too much.....just play around in that frequenciy range...it's all trial and error.

If anybody else has any suggestions feel free to add them....thats all I have at the moment.

try panning the lead guitar 'slightly' to the left to get it out of the vocal space.

[Flash]

Thanks, It's getting late here, I'm headed to bed. Look forward to seeing you all tomorrow.

[mixmkr]

overly panned stereo drums and a mono mix on everything else??

Need to hear the bass with some more definition too.

70's rock for sure.

[Flash]

It's a new day. O.K. I panned 1 rythum guitar 100% left the other 100% right. I panned the lead guitar 50% left except for the main lead I left in the center. I took the toms on the drums down a notch so they didn't jump out so much. I also did some EQing on the vocals. Mixmkr, I didn't see your post to get anything changed on the bass. I'll work on that today. Do you think I over did anything or dod I still need more ajusting?

[Kramer]

I see the eq on the vocals worked....The rhythm guitar still seems close to the middle and mono?When you say you panned the guitar tracks left and right are we talking 2 identical tracks?A copy and paste clone of the original?If so,you need to re-record a second rhythm guitar.....a copy and paste clone doesnt do anything as far as spreading things out....dont ask me why but it's the same with anything thats doubled...doubling parts doesnt really work unless you actually play the part twice or sing the vocal twice.....I could be wrong but I dont hear 2 rhythm guitars.It sounds like one thats been cloned.

The drums have still have a nice stereo spread....now you need play/record a second rhythm guitar as i suggested in one of my previous posts.

The vocals are there.

[Flash]

Kramer, actually there where two diff. rythum parts and I put 1 left 1 right. I'm gonna try cloning each one and pan then. Thanks for the responce. All help is really welcome.

[Kramer]

Im just not hearing the doubling effect.The rhythym guitars sound like they are panned straight up and down instead of wide left/right....am I listening to the latest mix?I just downloaded after you posted a little while ago...

[mkg]

Strong rock, I dig the guitars. Vocal is right up front where it belongs. The guys above have excellent mix suggestions.
I couldn't hear much snare, and would suggest going to a more straight-up kick/snare pattern in order to allow the track to breathe. With the toms accenting the beat, it seems harder to find the pocket.
A small logic note concerning lyrics. The line "...as day turns into dawn" might be better written as "...as night turns into dawn."
I know snow can make one lose a day or a week or a life, but the line as written seems confusing.
Overall the track sounded good and strong to me, with the exception of lack of snare pop.
Rock on!

Mark

[Flash]

Man, now something else to work on. I need to get Sammi to put down some real drums for me. Anyway, Kramer, the latest version is up now. I cloned the rythum guitars and panned left and right all the way. I think we got a couple other things fixed also. Take a listen now if you will.

[alibish]

Pretty cool. Nice retro feel, and I love the vocal. Like the lead guitar too.

A few ideas for mixing:

Compress the vocals to even out the level a wee bit. Be careful that you don't make the vocal too dull by doing this.

Maybe take a bit of low-end off the toms - they might be a little less over-bearing that way.

Bring the snare to dead-centre - it sounds really weird over on the left.

The distorted chords *definitely* sound like they're mixed to the centre.

If you only have one rhythm guitar track, simply copying it and panning one left and one right will NOT give a double-tracked effect. If you do this, it'll just sound like it's mixed to the centre.

If you can't get a separate rhythm track recorded, you can do a couple of things:

1. Delay one of the tracks very slightly - this can help "separate" two identical tracks.

2. EQ the two tracks slightly differently - this also helps give a better double-tracked feel.

Ideally you want to do what Kramer sugegsted - record a second rhythm guitar track, and use the original track on one side, the new track on the other. Even in this situation, using slightly different EQ on each can help separate two very similar rhythm tracks.

I'm a sloppy enough player that two runs through the same track don't even sound slightly similar!

Hope this helps

Alastair

[Kramer]

I think the problem now is that the drum are so "stereoized" that it's causing the rest of the mix to suffer...you want to get the kick and snare dead center.Cymbals and high-hats can be spread a little but kick and snare should be panned straight up and down.